Nofziger Case Adds Bid For Rice Contract

November 19, 1986|By New York Daily News

WASHINGTON — Lyn Nofziger, President Reagan's former chief political adviser, under investigation for his lobbying role for Wedtech, also was able to wield his influence in another case, seeking to influence a White House aide in a successful bid to win a rice contract for a Los Angeles company, the Daily News has learned.

Both efforts by Nofziger, now head of a public relations firm, took place less than a year after he quit the White House in 1982. Such lobbying is prohibited for at least a year after leaving.

The Justice Department is looking into Nofziger's role in lobbying James Jenkins on behalf of Wedtech four months after quitting the White House. Nofziger won a $28 million engine contract for the company.

In the rice contract case, Nofziger intervened with Reagan's national security adviser, William Clark, to ensure that Early California Industries did not lose a lucrative contract to sell rice to South Korea after the company was having trouble meeting Agriculture Department objections.